Student Life

Ma’ayanot students compete on several academic teams throughout the year. Academic teams allow students to develop specialized skills while exercising their competitive spirit. Our academic teams include: Chess, CIJE Innovation Day School Engineering Conference, College Bowl, Debate, Hidon HaTanakh, History Bowl, Math League, Mock Trial, Model Congress, Model United Nations, Poetry Slam, Science Olympiad, Stock Market Challenge, and Torah Bowl.

Past awards include: 

Chess Team

The Chess Team, led by Mr. Slava Koza, who comes to us from the International Chess Academy, participates in the Metropolitan Yeshiva High School League. Ma’ayanot is proud to be the only all-girls high school that competes in this league! Participants compete in a series of matches against other Yeshivot throughout the chess season.

College Bowl
College Bowl competes in a quiz-show league competition against other metropolitan area yeshiva high schools. Ma’ayanot offers a junior varsity and a varsity College Bowl team. The competitions test students’ knowledge in variety of content areas such as history, literature, geography and current events.

Debate Team

The Ma’ayanot Debate Team engages in competition with other Yeshiva high school teams in the Metropolitan area. Participants master arguments regarding some of the most controversial issues of our time, including physician-assisted suicide, gun control, abortion, nuclear war, and others. Students’ mastery of assigned topics is fully and fairly tested through strict debate procedure. To prepare for the competitions, students work on skills such as researching a topic, writing a presentation, and presenting in a strong voice with confidence.

Chidon HaTanakh

Student participants in Chidon HaTanakh have the opportunity to hone their bekiut skills in Tanakh by preparing for the national and international Chidon HaTanakh competitions. Interested students are coached to compete in the regional and national competitions. Students who qualify have the chance to go to the International Bible Contest that is held annually in Jerusalem.

History Bowl

The National History Bowl is a buzzer-based history quiz competition for teams of up to six students. The goal of this competition is to foster an interest in history that will give students an appreciation for the past that will serve them, their country, and world well in the future. Additionally, the substance and style of questions used in The National History Bowl competition rewards students who can make connections across eras, places, and themes in history. Practices will not only prepare students to succeed in the competitions, but will also help them gain an enhanced understanding of history as well.

Math League

The Math League is for students who are interested in and enjoy math and would like the opportunity to tackle math problems that are exciting and fun and aren’t covered in the standard high school curriculum. The club enables students to train and better compete in the New Jersey Math League competitions.

Mock Trial

Mock Trial is an imitation trial and courtroom competition sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Association. The team consists of lawyers, witnesses and jurors for both prosecution and defense. The students compete against other schools in the county and are judged by volunteer attorneys. Ma’ayanot has made it to the Bergen County finals many times.

Model Congress

Model Congress is an academic competition organized by HAFTR High School that simulates congressional committee conferences. For this competition, students are placed in various congressional committees (e.g., Appropriations, Armed Services, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, Environment and Public Works, Ethics, to name just a few), and they are asked to prepare and debate bills pertaining to to their assigned committees. Students learn how to conduct research, articulate persuasive arguments, and improve their writing skills, all while gaining knowledge of the U.S. political process.

Model United Nations

The Yeshiva University National Model United Nations (YUNMUN) is a student-run simulation of the workings of the real United Nations. As such, participation on the Model UN team affords students an opportunity to experience and learn about the complex landscape of international diplomacy. Playing the roles of delegates to United Nations member nations, participants represent a variety of positions, often ones with which they may not agree. In advocating for a given country, students must conduct thorough research of that country’s interests and policies across a wide range of issues and concerns, adding both to their knowledge of world affairs and to their appreciation of and facility with research, preparation, communication and critical evaluation.  

Poetry Slam

The Poetry Slam team participates in the Yeshiva Poetry Society, which sponsors numerous poetry slam contests throughout the year. To participate, our students compose original works of poetry in a variety of forms and perform their poetry at the slams. Students are judged for their use of language, their adherence to the stated poetic form, their approach to the theme, the quality of their performance, and their overall success at moving the judges and the audience. Awards are given to the top four poets at each slam. The judges are published poets, writers and educators.

Science Olympiad

The Jewish Education Project/Lander College Science Olympiad provides the opportunity for high school students in Yeshivot to compete in events that test science knowledge and skills. Science Olympiad consists of twelve events drawn from National Science Olympiad publications and address various aspects of biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, and applications of engineering and technology.

Stock Market Challenge

The objective of the Stock Market Game is to introduce its participants to the fundamentals of investing.  Each student is given a virtual $100,000 and taught how to invest the money so that it grows over time. The Stock Market Game is a tool that helps students build a fundamental understanding of investing while providing them with real world skills in math, Language Arts, economics, social studies, and other subjects. Most importantly, the Stock Market Game will help the students develop positive money habits and prepare them for the future.

Torah Bowl

The Torah Bowl team competes against other yeshivot in the Metropolitan Yeshiva League.  The competition follows a quiz-show format similar to College Bowl, with a team of four students competing at one time. The students study the pshat and Rashis of selected parshiot in the Torah. They learn Torah independently and hone their memory and recall skills. Breadth, depth and speed, as well as sportsmanship and teamwork, are all skills that the successful Torah Bowl team member must demonstrate.